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Photodegradable vinyl plastics. I. Effect of N‐halogen additives
Author(s) -
Freedman Bernard,
Diamond Martin J.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1976.070200219
Subject(s) - polypropylene , polystyrene , polyethylene , absorbance , halogen , polymer chemistry , polymer , materials science , intrinsic viscosity , degradation (telecommunications) , irradiation , nuclear chemistry , chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , alkyl , chromatography , telecommunications , physics , computer science , nuclear physics
The addition of small amounts of N‐halogen compounds to polystyrene (PS), Polypropylene (PP), and polyethylene (PE) enhanced the photodegradability of the resultant plastic films. The effectiveness of the additives varied with their structure and with the polymer. A comparison of N‐Bromosuccinimide (NBS) with several known photoinitiators showed it to be superior in effectiveness to all but one. Films were irradiated with a 275‐watt RS sunlamp for 66–200 hr. Degradation was measured by increase in carbonyl absorbance at 1750–1695 cm −1 using infrared spectroscopy and by change in viscosity. PS containing NBS underwent a greater molecular weight loss than unmodified PS after UV exposure as determined by viscosity measurements.